


You ate the heart-shaped herb.

by flyingthesky



Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Character Study, Extended Scene, Gen, Heart-Shaped Herb (Marvel), Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, Prose Poem, it was intended to be slam poetry but it's a smidge too long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 14:39:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18662419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingthesky/pseuds/flyingthesky
Summary: Should the king be the one to wield them, if it's all gone so wrong, up until this point?No, the herb tells you,but we are one now. Fix what you have broken. I grant you the power to.





	You ate the heart-shaped herb.

**Author's Note:**

> For the April "flowers" challenge at [Podfic Bingo](https://podfic-bingo.dreamwidth.org/) and also my "read animatedly" square. To that end: there is yelling in the audio file, should you chose to stream it. It was not leveled out, as I would normally, on purpose.

[cover](https://i.imgur.com/Zw4ean6.jpg) | [download @ google drive](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1uHvVtJQ7IOty2r25FUC8Qstdr5lUwGrJ)

You eat the heart-shaped herb.

When you were younger, you asked your father why it was called the hearted-shaped _herb_ if it was a flower. Your father said that any flower that could be eaten was a herb, in addition to being a flower. W'kabi would not eat the daisies when you said they might also give powers, like the heart-shaped herb. 

That was probably a good thing, because you later learned that daisies are poisonous. You have poisoned enough things accidentally. You could not have handled another mistake in your history. There are too many of those and not enough good.

You are not worthy of the heart-shaped herb, and the both of you know it.

Clear your mind.

Clear your heart.

Clear the slate of the past, scrubbing away anything imperfect. Leave the record clean, like your father did. Like your ancestors did.

No! No! No!

"You were _wrong_ ," you yell. "All of you were _wrong!_ To turn your backs on the rest of the world! We let the fear of our discovery stop us from doing what is right. No more."

[Wake up, T'challa.]

A part of you does not want to wake up. Perhaps, if you sleep, then the whole world will burn under your cousin's rule. Perhaps that would be better.

[Wake up, T'challa.]

You will not wake up. Both you and the heart-shaped herb know that you do not deserve to wake up. Both of you are aware that your worthiness is tarnished. That, perhaps, nobody has been worthy of the powers the herb can provide.

Is your cousin worthy?

Are you?

[WAKE UP, T'CHALLA!]

You open your eyes. Your mother is there. Your sister is there. Your . . . Nakia is there.

Okoye is not there. Would Okoye be worthy of the herb's powers? Should the king be the one to wield them, if it's all gone so wrong, up until this point?

 _No_ , the herb tells you, _but we are one now. Fix what you have broken. I grant you the power to._

You breathe. In and out.

Power courses through your body, and you know it's stolen. You know that you do not deserve it.

You breathe. In and out.

You ate the heart-shaped herb and now you are what you were always meant to be, but you don't know if that's what you want to be. You don't know if you've ever had a choice not to be what was expected of you. What was _planned_ for you.

You breathe. In and out.

There is something you must do now and you are the only one who can do it.

 _Yes_ , the heart-shaped herb whispers to you, _Fix what you have broken. You are not worthy, but you could be._

You breathe. In and out.

Everything settles into place. Everything becomes clear. You ate the heart-shaped herb. You denounced the path of your ancestors.

You are the Black Panther, and there is something you must do.


End file.
